Chapter 197: Urth Vault I

The Collector raised a fist into the air and flared out its unity type mana, focusing on it intently to analyze and guide its flow. It could feel the countless threads of invisible connection weaved between its Jotnar core and the golems and marveled at the efficiency of this link. It was one that had unlimited range and no mana cost to upkeep while having an upper limit of units capable of being controlled easily exceeding a thousand.

The Jotnar had evidently spent much time honing their link to golem units to an exceptional level of efficiency, indicating also that the Jotnar relied heavily upon golems in their civilization.

The Collector had had to utilize its vast processing power and significant amount of experimentation to forge its Higher Calling capability to near this level of connective control. If any ordinary specimen had attempted to take the Collector's place and fully control its swarm, maintaining mental tally over so many specimens, then they would have their minds rend asunder through the sheer mental strain.

The Collector with two processing units on top of vastly more efficient processing capability could handle this strain with ease.

Even then, however, the Collector had to utilize carrier units to streamline the process of swarm control, and it did not actively link itself to the minds of every single individual unit, relying on the Carriers to do this for the Collector so as to save magical energy.

The connection to the golems, however, was one that required no mana to upkeep. The only real weakness was that it was solely connected to the Collector's Jotnar core, so if that heart was damaged, control over the golems would be lost also.

The Collector unfurled the fingers of its fist, and as it did so, a wave of blue mana shot out from it, washing over all the golems.

The golems moved from their dormant positions, the ground shaking with the weight and magical mass of their movement. All of them were hunched over, but the Collector bid them to stand, and they did so, easing their weight onto their pillar-like legs of ice as they towered over all in the room, their faceless visages staring straight at the Collector in primed attention.

"Agreeable," said the Collector as it clicked its mandibles. "The golems are now under my control."

"As expected of the Sovnar," said Goromir with a deep nod. "There is truly nothing beyond your grasp."

"Sovnar amazing!" said Thokk.

The Collector began to hover towards the swirling spiral portal of blue at the end of the cavern.

"I will leave the golems here as sentries for any intrusion," said the Collector. "The rest of you, follow."

The swarm and Kui followed the Collector as it hovered right in front of the portal. The portal sent out surges of magical energy that made the Collector's sensitive hairs stand on end.

"Warning. Sensing multiple mana signatures nearby. The warp is engraved only to the signature of the Successor."

The Collector clicked its mandibles. It would have to leave behind the swarm here, relatively out in the open, but at the same time, the fighter specimen known as 'Kui' would prove to be an apt defender of them should he keep his word.

As if sensing the Collector's thought processing, Kui spoke. "Go ahead, Endbringer. As I have said, I will defend these people of yours."

"We need no protection!" said Thokk with bravado.

"Now, young one, we have been protected by this one many times now," said Goromir as he extended a cordial fist towards Kui. "And he has fought with the Sovnar also. I also know when one is a master in the martial ways, and you-," Goromir's eyes narrowed as he beheld Kui. "Are a monster among monsters."

"A monster? Yes," said Kui solemnly. "But no more than that."

"You humble yourself," said Goromir. He turned his had to Thokk. "And humility is a trait quite valuable, young one. It allows you to know your limits, to acknowledge the strengths of others, and to better the self over time."

Goromir paused with a fanged grin as he glanced at Kui. "But the urge to test my might surges within me. How about it? Do you wish to spar while the Sovnar fulfills the destiny placed unto him by the mythical giants themselves?"

Kui gave a casual half shrug, his expression emotionless and calm as usual. "I do not mind."

The goblin swarm murmured to themselves as they found a new fight to be excited over, and they thronged around Kui and Goromir as the two prepared to fight.

The Collector, seeing this, assessed that it was unlikely for the fighter specimen to possess any ill intent, and made its way into the warp point. From what it could tell of this warp point, it was more stable than that created by the Fang specimen, but it was equally limited in its projective capability, linking only to one fixed point in space.

The Collector passed through the blue spirals, feeling cold wash over its body, and felt momentary darkness invade its ocular systems as the familiar feeling of warp travel strained at its body. A sensation of weightlesness, even a faint feeling of nausea due to the fact that the Collector's body was not as sturdy and primed for warp travel as it once was.

The moment of darkness faded, however, leaving the Collector in an entirely new space.

The Collector floated in what truly was a space fashioned by giants. Everything was crafted with colossally sized beings in mind. It flew in what seemed to be a cylindrical space approximately three hundred meters in diameter and five hundred meters in height.

The walls of the cylinder were fashioned from smoothened, pale white ice tinged with teal indicative of Truefrost, not the blue of Everfrost. The ceiling was flat and circular and etched with countless sigils that the Collector recognized as 'Runes' - the script that the Jotnar utilized that was highly distinct in marking from tinkering scripts.